Please Come Home for Christmas
by Lily meet Ginny
Summary: "But Lily, please come home for Christmas," James pleaded. It didn't help that he'd already struck out my name on the signup sheet for staying at Hogwarts. So I said the only semi-reasonable thing that came to mind.
1. Chapter 1

(**A/N:** I don't own this world. The characters belong to J.K Rowling. The plot is mine though. The idea came from the song, Please Come Home for Christmas, released by Charles Brown in 1960, and redone by The Eagles in 1978. It would have been released the Christmas after Lily and James graduated. The Eagles' version reached #30 in the UK. I originally wrote this as a one-shot Christmas offshoot of a former fic I had been working on. Since then, I have discontinued the fic per a major overhaul and will be reposting this story with significant changes. My style of writing has changed since I originally posted this two years ago, and my idea of romance is considerably different as well. The abundance of author notes that have plagued my stories will be removed or shortened. In the end, I hope that the alterations I am making will allow me to develop my story in a way that the previous style had halted.)

I got down to the Gryffindor table early enough this morning to have some time alone to think, a pursuit often difficult to find time for in a tower crowded with students . I knew the signup sheet for staying at Hogwarts would get passed around today at breakfast, and I knew my name would be on it. It was all for the best, I hoped. After all, the letter from my dad and sister had not helped last night.

I had been sitting up in the common room working on a potions essay when Hecate, my owl, came soaring into the common room. I had been fearful when I first saw the letter, since my mum had died at the end of the summer and my dad hadn't been quite right since. I was terrified that this letter would inform me of his passing. After my mum died, his vibrant red hair had gone sandy and his eyes lost their warmth. He wasn't old, per say, but he hadn't seemed to have recovered from her death in the slightest bit. I still wished that there was something I could do for him, some potion I could make to help him out, but there was nothing. A cheering charm couldn't fight this. I worried needlessly as I slid a finger under the tack on the envelope and pulled out a sheet of paper (my parents didn't keep parchment around the house and my sister would never use it). I quickly unfolded it and read.

Dear Lily,

I'm sorry for the late notice, but we will not be having Christmas at the house this year. Petunia invited us to her home in Little Whinging for Christmas. To be honest, I really don't feel like having any sort of Christmas celebration this year. I always loved the season, but I loved it more because of how much your mother loved it. I know you share her spirit on this. I will be leaving for Petunia's after I post this. Christmas will be just a small affair this year, likely without any tree or festivities. We will be having dinner with Marge, Vernon's sister. You are more than welcome to join us, but if you would prefer stay at school for Christmas, I will understand. To be honest, there isn't much room in her house right now. I'm not trying to discourage you away, but as you and Petunia are still on bad terms, I doubt you would be happy here this year, or received well. There would be animosity coming at you not just from her, but from her husband and his sister as well. She apparently attempted to find anti-magic amulets at some new age shop, even though they likely wouldn't work. However, if you plan on being here, let me know and I'll try and find you a room somewhere and I'll try to make your stay as welcoming as possible.

Lily Flower, I do miss you, more than you can imagine. If you don't come, I'll make sure to have a day set aside for the two of us over break, and I'll be at our house for Easter as well. I hope your schooling is going well, and hope to see you soon.

All my love,

Dad

I folded up the letter and went to stuff it back into the envelope, with tears in my eyes. It wasn't fair, but life never is. I just wished that we could have one last holiday season together before I would leave school, but that wouldn't possible. My presence would ensure that the holiday would be miserable for everyone. As I put the letter back into the envelope, I noticed that I had dropped something onto the ground.

You are invited to attend the Dursleys' Christmas party

24. December

7:00 pm

Cocktail attire

Scrawled below this in Petunia's tight handwriting was a message:

Hotel accommodations are not provided. Transportation is not provided.

Well that settled that, I thought. I was angry and disappointed. Actually, I would probably be a bit closer to livid if my feelings weren't hurt. Hotel accommodations implied that she wouldn't have me staying in her house. On top of that, she was attempting to eradicate me from her house, through anti-magic amulets? Obviously, if I was coming to see her, I meant her no harm. We were sisters, for crying out loud- we had once been best friends. Hurting each other was stupid. However, I guessed Dursley had something to do with this. This wasn't the first Christmas interruption he had taken part in.

I wished I wasn't plagued with having him for a brother-in-law. He was a true git. He matched his last name well. I remember settling down for supper on Christmas Eve, placing the last dish of food on the table. My mum had just sat down, and Dad was just waiting for Petunia to step in before he carved the ham. I heard a door slam and voices in the entry. I whipped up my wand quickly. I doubted that it would be Death Eaters, but a girl a year below me had lost her parents to the monsters just before Christmas break. There was no reason to take unnecessary chances. Big mistake. For what to my wondering eyes should appear, not Death Eaters rounding the corner, but my dear elder sister with some strange man. She was glaring at me, but my wand was tucked fast away and I had eyes only for this unpleasant man. He was gruff looking, of average height, and fat. Not the type of fat that is warm and encompassing and gives off an air of comfort, but a gross, sickly fat, one that suggests a coronary bypass should take place sooner than later. I could tell my mum was surprised. For one, my mum liked Christmas Eve dinner to be a time for family. We could invite anyone we like over for dinner on Christmas day, but Christmas Eve was just ours. We kept the tree lit, cooked, ate dinner, and drove to midnight service. We'd done this every year for as long as I could remember. Petunia breaking tradition was not going to go over well. Also, the bloke wasn't even dressed properly. His pants were far too tight, revealing lines I'm sure my mother had no desire to see, and his tie wasn't even tied correctly. He was wearing some cheap, boring tie with the end barely past his midsection. I could see my dad frowning at this. He was a fairly conservative man and prided himself on knowing how to tie his tie in plenty of ways.

The bloke standing in the entryway obviously sensed our discomfort, for he stepped forward and said,

"Vernon Dursley. How do you do?"

That was it. No 'hello, sir, how are your holidays' or 'Madame, your dress looks fabulous' or any other form of pleasantries. My parents seemed flabbergasted. I wasn't surprised. Upon hearing his name, I had an idea of who he was. His father had owned a drill bit company, a company that had remained in the family since it was first created. Upon his father's death, rumor had it that Vernon had sold part of the company to a drilling company for a fair chunk of change and an executive job. I guess I had found out what my sister saw in him.

"This is my boyfriend, Father and Mother. I invited him to join us for supper tonight," Petunia said stiffly. They were both still standing in entryway so my mother stood and pulled over an extra chair, putting it in between Petunia and my dad, but across from me. I could tell by now that this was not going to be an enjoyable night. And so it wasn't (stupid self-fulfilling prophesies). I had to watch my sister simper over Dursley all night, and listen to him belch and talk mundanely about work. Any time the conversation would turn toward me, Tuney would turn the conversation back toward herself or Vernon. Still, my dad finally managed to get a word in.

"So Lilykins, how's your studying going," my dad asked, turning to look at me. I knew he was fascinated by what I was learning in school and was concerned I hadn't had enough time to finish my homework over the break, but a glance over at Petunia told me that now was not the time. A loud scraping sound startled me. I almost drew my wand again but thought better of it. I was only Vernon scooting forward at the mention of my school, a malicious grin plastered to his ugly face.

"So you go to a school for magicians eh," he barked, looking maniacal. I did not like the direction this conversation was going. Petunia never mentioned my magic to anyone, nor was she permitted to. My parents made that clear the day that Professor Dumbledore showed up on our front porch. The idea that this blundering fool knew anything was outside of my realm of comfort.

"I'm not quite sure I'm following you," I said, gritting my teeth and glaring at him. It was the same glare that stopped Potter in his tracks so many times. This Dursley guy had some nerve though. He chose to keep talking.

"Oh I think you know perfectly well what I'm talking about," he sneered. "That school you go to. The one that teaches you how to turn normal things into rats and spiders."

From the looks of it, Dursley was immoderately stupid. I looked at him and grinned, which seemed to catch him off guard.

"You do realise," I said slowly, "that if what you said were true, I could easily turn you into something too." I stopped for a moment and gave him a quick up and down, the way I'd only seen Sirius do to his brother. "Perhaps a pig," I mused. Very much to my surprise, he didn't back down.

"You're a freak," he hissed at me, eyes alight with malice. "You will always be a freak. Your sister is lucky to have escaped from this foolishness."

His words stung. For me, family had meant so much. They offered hope and support even when my world seemed like it was going to collapse inward. He made it seem like I was the only reason that Petunia fought with our parents. At this point, my dad stood up. He had seen the hurt in my eyes; he knew that deadly tone of mine. I had a temper. I didn't, wouldn't step down from something I felt strongly about. My father stood protectively, his eyes gleaming with pride of his family.

"You have insulted my family," my dad said, glaring at the boy. "I believe that it is time for you to leave." My sister stood up at this.

"Dad, why should Vernon have to leave? He only said what's true. How is it his fault that Lily is what she is?" she questioned my dad. That surprised me. I knew that she hadn't kept my secret, but this sort of betrayal I didn't imagine. My dad sighed, apparently not wanting to push this issue.

"Just go," he sighed. "We don't need this right now."

Dursley stood up, grabbed his coat, and headed for the door. I could hear him muttering on the way out something about freaks. Suddenly, I heard Dursley yelp in the hall way. I tried not to laugh. You see, in the quickest piece of magic I'd done in quite a while, not to mention wandless, I had adjusted Dursley's tie to a proper length and tightness. I guessed I wasn't something he was used to.

In the time that I had been staring at the empty door way, Petunia had stood up and was now heading out as well.

"Where are you going, young lady?" my dad asked, having sat back down at the head of the table. His eyes caught hers, and a sudden rush of emotions crossed her face, before they returned to the cold expression which had been plastered there ever since I had returned home for winter break.

"I'm going back out with Vernon. His sister invited us over for Christmas dinner."

At this notice, it wasn't my dad who reacted, but my mum.

"You will be staying right here, Petunia," she said in a tone that would not allow any arguing. "Our dinner has already been disrupted enough for one night. This is our family tradition, and you will take part in it. Please, let's just have some peace and quiet. It's Christmas," my mother pleaded, for the sake of our family, for the sake of good will and joy. My sister begrudgingly sat back down and ate dinner with our family, went to midnight service with our family, and settled into a sort of truce with me. She and I wouldn't talk, and she didn't bring over or mention that Vernon Dursley again while I was on break.

* * *

Well bah humbug. They could have their little Christmas party, as far as I was concerned. It stung that the party would be taking place on Christmas eve, since that had always been our family's time. It would most likely turn out the same way as last year, without the benefit of being in my home. My dad's letter essentially told me to stay away, and he would never do that without good reason. Feeling that any attempt of salvaging the evening was long gone, I rolled up my essay and put it away in my bag, throwing the stupid letter on top of everything before storming out of the common room. It was time for my patrol anyways. James and I were supposed to be covering the corridors tonight. I knew he was still up in the common room as I hurried down, but I needed some time to think, or maybe just sulk. There weren't many options as to what to do for Christmas now. Let's see… stay at Hogwarts, or stay at Hogwarts? Just as I had started my pondering, a dark figure stepped out in front of me. Maybe I was _just_ a bit angry about earlier, but I had my wand out quicker than the figure could hop into the light, although he quickly did so when he saw me raise my wand.

"Geez Lily, you're going to kill me some day with that quick draw of yours," James Potter said, carefully eyeing the wand I still had out as he emerged from the shadows in front of me. I swear I'll probably never figure out how he got around quicker than even the caretaker. It was certainly something that was handy when we were patrolling. Often when there was a disturbance in the corridors, he would pull me down some path behind a picture or a banner, and we'd quickly be upon the trouble makers. However, this time it had served to test the quickness of my reflexes. I lowered my wand and tucked it away in my sleeve for safe keeping as James and I fell into step with each other. We had gotten down several corridors before he finally spoke to me.

"Lily, what's wrong? You've been stirred up since that letter in the common room, and you've hardly said a word all night." He looked at me expectantly. I hated when he focused his eyes on me like that. The hazel became sharp and focused, and I knew there would be no avoiding the question now. When he became that intent, he was persistent. I sighed.

"I got a letter from my sister," I told him, pulling out the invitation, but leaving the letter hidden. I handed it to him and watched as his eyes skimmed over it. His frown became evident.

"You could always stay home with your dad, right?" he asked, looking back up at me. I shook my head.

"My dad was invited well before now. He's staying there."

"Is it too far to get to by car?" He studied my face, and I was sure he could see through my shields. I was sure he could see the dried tears, and as he was all too familiar with it, I was sure he could see my anger, simmering beneath the surface.

"It's about a two and a half hour car trip. Too far for my dad, and he won't let me drive it since I rarely get any driving experience. He's told me plenty of times before that while I might be able to talk my way out of a ticket, I can't do much if I run into someone." At this, I turned away and James carefully pulled me into a hug, running his hand in a circle on my back. I let him hold me for a moment, smelling the spicy scent of his soap. It felt good, and it washed some of the angst away. He was one of the few people who knew that my mum had died in a car wreck this summer. He had actually been with me when I found out, and had developed a reasonably effective way of comforting me. Then again, I'm sure that's usually what happens when you have a sobbing girl in front of you.

I pulled away after a moment and gave him a small smile. As we started walking again, I realized we were at the split in our patrol ways. As always, he took the left that led toward the hospital wing, owlrey, and kitchens while I took the right toward the library, quidditch pitch, and grand hallway. When we met back up twenty minutes later, I had realized that staying at Hogwarts over Christmas break was my only option. After all, both of my roommates would be headed out of the country over break, so Hogwarts was the only place I really could stay at. Though it was warm with Christmas trees and Yule logs burning in the fires, it still wasn't the same place that I had called home. I wouldn't be decorating the tree at home like our family did every year, waiting for my dad to place the star on top of the tree, stringing garlands of evergreens over the stairs with my mum, and lighting up the whole house with strings of lights. It just wouldn't be the same. It would never be the same again.

And that's what brought me down here earlier than normal for breakfast. I was hoping to get that blasted sign-up sheet before anyone else could try and talk me out of it. But luck was not in my favor. Most of those in my year had already started filling in for breakfast before the list was handed out. I could hear Alice and Marlene talking about the trip to France that each girl was taking, Marlene as she did every year, and Alice to meet Frank Longbottom's grandmother before the wedding this summer. I was waiting for them to come down as James Potter and Sirius Black collapsed into seats next to me, James going over some notes from our NEWTs material, and Sirius unknowingly talking to himself as he planned out their next prank. It was as Alice and Marlene finally reached the table that the sign-up sheet, which had meandered around Hufflepuff and had passed quickly through Slytherin, finally reached me. When I pulled out a quill, Alice and Marlene noted my intentions.

"Oh Lily, you're staying here over Christmas break?" Alice asked in dismay.

"Yeah, I am this year," I replied nonchalantly. I noticed that Sirius was listening curiously. James still had his eyes down on his notes, reviewing carefully.

"I wish you could come and stay with one of us, but we're both going to France over the break," Marlene added. I wouldn't have ruined their vacations anyway by joining them

"I'm so sorry," Alice added. "But we'll both write."

I dipped my quill into a pot of ink and signed my name steadily on the sheet before passing it on down the table. No reason to not look confident in my decision. As I continued to eat my breakfast, I watched as James picked up the sheet, eyed my name written, and pulled out his own quill. I doubted that James had any real reason to stay up here during the break, but if that was his plan, so be it. It wasn't. He looked over at me before precisely striking through my name twice and passing on the signup sheet and getting back to studying. Needless to say, I was not happy, not one bit. He even knew why I was staying. However, when I opened my mouth to question him, he raised an eyebrow before dragging me out of the Great Hall.

"What was that about?" I asked angrily as soon as we were out of earshot. He smiled cheekily at me.

"I would have thought that was simple," James said, his smile causing his hazel eyes to twinkle behind his glasses. Blast those eyes. "You aren't staying here for Christmas."

"Yes I am," I retorted. Best comeback ever, Lily, I told myself. "I don't have anywhere else I can go." At this revelation, I turned red. I hadn't told James last night about what my dad had written.

"I know," he said, holding up the envelope I had received last night. "You dropped this last night. And it seemed to be what was making you upset, more than that bloody invitation." James was eyeing me warily, but still kept that smile plastered on his face. He was excited, so I gathered that he must have cooked up something.

"Christmas is your favorite time, Lily. You couldn't stand being up here! I mean Christmas day might be festive and all, but everything is already decorated, and knowing you, you'll convince yourself that you need to study for NEWTs every day of break and have to watch out for everyone and you'll wear yourself thin."

I knew he was right. I had already worked up a study schedule for over the break. There was no reason to be unproductive, even if I was going to be miserable.

"James," I began, but he cut me off.

"No arguing, Lily. You aren't staying here."

"Well where in Merlin's name am I supposed to stay then?" I yelled, my temper overcoming me. "If you read my letter, you know there's no way in hell I'm going to Petunia's for Christmas. So what am I supposed to do then? Go sleep in my empty house? I'd prefer Hogwarts to that."

"I know you would," he said quietly. "And that's not what I'd want you to do anyways. Actually, I was planning on you joining my family for the Christmas hols."

I sputtered. How was it that he always managed to catch me off guard?

"I wouldn't want to impose," I started, but James cut me off.

"You won't be imposing. You're invited anyways."

"But I feel bad," I told him softly. "I don't want to barge in on your family's Christmas time. I doubt your mum would like that too much, anyways."

"Lily," he said, cutting my babbling short. "You remember how I told you about my dad this summer? About how he had a heart attack?"

I nodded.

"Well she hasn't been quite the same without him around. The house is quiet without him there, and I know she's lonely. She was thrilled when we took Sirius in two summers ago, and she's been writing to me for ages, telling me how excited she was that Sirius and I were coming home for break. And when I wrote her last night, asking her if it would be alright if I asked you to join us as well, she was positively excited. She sent me a bloody howler back just so I could hear her amplified voice telling me that not only would she be pleased to have you, she'd be positively thrilled to have another girl in the house. As if she couldn't sent that in a note, though I doubt I would have had a response back within fifteen minutes if she's taken the time to actually sit down and write." James smiled warmly, thinking about his mum, and then looked straight at me again. "She hasn't managed to get all the cookies made this year, and I'm sure she'd love to have someone help her bake. Plus, we usually put up the tree right after I get home from Hogwarts, so you'll get to help with decorating it, and likely you'll get to help us go pick the tree out too. And this way, you'll be out of school, so you can go visit your dad too during the break, and we can all study for NEWTs together over the break, though we might have to strap Sirius down to a chair to get it done."

He laughed nervously, as if he suddenly thought he might be talking to fast or something.

"I mean, if you don't want to do any of those things, that's fine, we can certainly do other things, I just wanted you to be able to have a good Christmas, instead of being cooped up in the castle. But Lily, please come home for Christmas."

This time he definitely was talking too fast. But it sounded wonderful. It sounded like the Christmases that my family used to have. And I knew that a certain James Potter was standing in front of me, very nervously waiting for a response. It did help that he'd already struck out my name on the signup sheet for staying at Hogwarts. So I said the only semi-reasonable thing that came to mind after that speech.

"When do we leave?"


	2. Chapter 2

Turns out we left at the same time that the Hogwarts Express normally left. On the Hogwarts Express. I don't know why I thought it would be any different with the boys who loved that train so much. We ate more candy than I normally would have eaten (including types of candy I never had any intention of devoured), played exploding snap, and actually did manage to get some studying done. It took a bit of effort from James and Remus, involving a well placed sticking charm on Sirius so that he'd stay put, but it did work. I did notice that Peter managed to avoid this impromptu study session entirely, though.

"I'll be back in a bit," Peter informed us, his bum out the door and far away from a capable sticking charm. "I'm just going to… go not study."

I couldn't help but to laugh at the sight of him backing out the door cautiously, with his bum stuck out to avoid being charmed. I didn't blame him for not wanting to study. It wasn't fun but NEWTs were coming up in the next semester. As a plus, we did manage to get some of the Charms theory out of the way, though Sirius kept grumbling the whole way about finding a way to get the two back.

"I'll get them… tinsel… charmed… balloons… get them… sparkles… pranked…" was all I could understand him say, and James sat there smirking at Sirius with one eyebrow raised.

"Oh sure you will, Padfoot," James said playfully. From Sirius' glare, I knew he would.

Soon enough though, we were at the station, with our luggage down, coats on, and Sirius' derriere detached from the seat. As we climbed out of the train, I began to feel a bit nervous. I'd never met James mum before, and I had no idea as to what to expect. In fact, I hadn't met too many wizarding families either. I tried to hang back, but James noticed. As he came back, he put a hand on my back and leaned in to whisper in my ear.

"Don't be nervous," he said softly, a lot closer to me than I than I realized. "She's going to love you. After all, she did send me a bloody howler to invite you." His grin was contagious, and I hurried after him, only to find myself in front of his mum. She was older, with grey streaks in her shoulder length, wavy brown hair. Her hazel eyes were still strong behind her glasses. She was rather tall, yet managed not to come off as stern, but rather warm and welcoming. I barely had time to look her over before I was swept into a huge but quick hug.

"You must be Lily. I've heard so many good things about you."

"It's nice to meet you, Mrs. Potter," I said, after being released. As I opened my mouth to continue with the introduction and pleasantries, Sirius came charging from behind me. I instinctively ducked for cover. I had witnessed far too many pranks gone horribly wrong to remain upright when Sirius Black was running away from something.

"Mum!" Sirius yelled out happily as he launched himself at Mrs. Potter. James, not to be beat, also launched himself into the mess. Mrs. Potter smiled at me from around the tangled mess hanging off of her. "Boys," she mouthed at me in amusement, her eyes sparking. I couldn't help but to nod and smile back, grinning widely. This woman had a way of making those around her feel warm and welcome, without smothering them. After Sirius and James both finally released her, she directed us out of the station. I turned back to grab my trunk, but what to my wondering eyes should disappear, but my trunk, magically shrunk, into James' pocket.

"Oh come on, Lily," he said, giving me his trademark cheeky smile. You didn't think I'd make you carry that, did you?"

I followed him out of the station, grumbling about chivalry, when we got to the car. And I mean car. I assumed we would apparate, but apparently Mrs. Potter drove. Sirius quickly called for the front seat, and James climbed into the back with me. I was fairly surprised that this was a normal muggle car with no magical adaptations, and even more surprised that James' mom could drive a car. After all, I had been raised in the muggle world and I still had problems with driving, even with practice every summer. I couldn't help but wondering when she had mastered driving.

"Mrs. Potter, when did you learn how to drive?" I asked.

"There was an auror mission right after James was born," she began, smiling as she glanced in the rear view mirror. "We had to follow muggle officials around in order to protect them, courtesy of the prime minister. However, in order to better serve those we were protecting, we had to learn how to be muggles and especially how to live like them. So," at this she gestured at the perfectly normal car, "we adapted. And it's certainly more scenic at times."

It was true. As we got further out of London, the drizzle that had been shrouding the car softly became whispering flakes of snow. It was breathtaking, though I'm sure the cold air biting into me from Sirius' need to hang his head out of the window helped in taking my breath away. Sometimes that boy worried me.

"I thought we would stop and get a tree on the way home," Mrs. Potter announced. "They typically smell a bit better than transfigured trees, and usually last a lot longer too!"

At that, everyone in the car roared with laughter. Needless to say, I was lost. James quickly leaned over to explain.

"I decided to transfigure a tree for us back during third year," he began, looking up at his mum. "It all went well in the beginning. I got it set up, covered in lights, and had all the ornaments on and everything. That night, there was this huge crash, and everyone came running. Sirius was over spending the night," he added, to explain why his friend was hiding behind barely concealed hysterics. "And right there, on the floor, was this huge pile of lights, tinsel, and broken ornaments. Turns out I forgot the permanent aspect of the transfiguration," he laughed. "It took forever to clean up and repair all the ornaments, and then we had to go out and get another tree and redecorate it before it was all over. Mum swore we'd always get a real tree after that."

I laughed. I could easily picture that, James standing beside the wreckage of a tree, looking guilty. Perhaps that's because I'd seen him look that way after he ran into a huge tree Hagrid had put up during our second year and had caused the whole thing to come crashing down around him. That memory was priceless, so I took the time to remind everyone in the car.

"James that was bloody brilliant when you did that. It was the perfect moment too!" Sirius said, reaching back to high five his best mate. I raised my eyebrows expectantly.

"Well… er… me running into that tree was a diversion for a prank," he admitted sheepishly. "I couldn't think of anything else that would offer a big enough distraction. So I took one for the team."

I couldn't resist rolling my eyes. It was the story of his life. But we were pulling into a lot with trees, and James and Sirius were scrambling out to find the best one. I held back to walk with Mrs. Potter. Every year before, my dad had taken my mum, Petunia, and me to go look for the perfect tree. And every year, it would be my mum who picked out the perfect tree. This was distant enough from my past Christmases to be in safe territory. It wasn't long before James and Sirius came running back toward us full speed.

"Mum! Mum! We found the perfect one!"

Sirius managed to grab Mrs. Potter's hand before he tore back off toward the back of the lot, and James grabbed my hand too, much to my surprise.

"I can't wait for you to see this one," he said, smiling at me as we hurried to catch up with the rambunctious Sirius Black. I was glad I could keep up because they were running awfully fast, weaving through the different kinds of pine trees and heading toward the back of the lot. I was lucky not to have crashed head first into one of the trees with the rate we were going at. We finally stopped in front of a full fir tree at almost the very back of the lot, not too tall, not too short. I had to admit, they had done great to have found this tree. It had been hidden behind a few other trees and didn't even have a smushed side that you'd have to work hard to hide up against a wall. James caught sight of the smile on my face.

"What are you thinking about, Lily?" he asked. I smirked at him.

"Oh, I was just thinking that at least now you don't have to worry about attempting to transfigure anything on this tree and having it come crashing down in the night."

"Hey," he said, mock hurt on his face. "I'll have you know that transfiguration is my best subject, Miss Evans"

"Oh really, Mr. Potter. You might need to prove it, because I think my last grade beat yours." Truth is, we wouldn't know about the grades until after winter break, but I was rather enjoying the playful banter.

I could see Sirius waving at James to try and get his attention. While James and I had been chatting, Sirius and Mrs. Potter had found the owner to pay for the tree, and Sirius needed help getting the tree up on the car muggle style. James glanced over at Sirius and nodded, before leaning in closer to me.

"I guess I'll just have to prove it to you when we get home," he said, smiling captivatingly, leaving me standing there as the turned and jogged over to help Sirius lift the tree. I'm sure my jaw had dropped and it took a second to shake myself out of a stupor. Bloody hell. We had been decent friends since summer. We'd even gone to Hogsmeade together a few times, though it was really just as friends and to patrol. But he'd never brought comments like that into the picture before. Even in the years before, his comments were more on the lines of asking me out than any actual flirtation. And that last comment, with the way he smiled at me, was definitely edged with flirtation. I wasn't quite sure what to make of it. Was I making too much out of it? Did I just imagine it? "Ok Lily," I told myself, "that didn't mean anything. It was an innocent little comment. He definitely was not flirting. Get over it." But for some reason, getting over it wasn't working out quite so well.


	3. Chapter 3

The car ride back was filled with time for me to think. It didn't take a particularly long time to get to the Potter house, but my thoughts were whirring quickly. James Potter was flirting with me. Actually bloody flirting with me. I knew he had matured, after all I had seen the evidence all throughout the summer and into the school year. But for some reason, I had always assumed that either he was over me or would eventually return to the "Hey Evans, go on a date with me" stage. It really didn't help that as we were fastening our seat belts, James had brushed his hand against mine. That alone had sent tingles up my arm. I caught him staring at me several times, his hazel eyes bright and curious behind wire rims.

"Hey Lily," he asked softly. "I was just wondering…" James trailed off as he saw that Sirius had turned around in his seat to listen.

"I was just wondering if you thought Santa was a wizard," he finished lamely. "I mean he shimmies down the chimney but always stays clean, which sounds distinctively like floo usage, he travels around the world in one night, and he managed to find and tame flying reindeer. I figure he has to be."

I went to answer, but Sirius already was talking.

"Of course he is, Prongsie!" Sirius said, visibly wiggling in his seat in anticipation. "I don't see any other way. No muggle could travel that fast. Plus, with all of the elves he has, he makes presents quickly. Most muggles wound never be able to see elves."

The Santa debate, though rather one sided, lasted until we pulled into the driveway. As soon as we got out of the car and had our trunks in the house, the boys levitated in the Christmas tree. It was a lot easier to get it off of the car with magic than it had been to get it on the top of the car in the first place, which I was appreciative of. It gave me less time to contemplate James brushing against me and even less time to try to decode the shrewd look Mrs. Potter had given us as it happened. Blast my over thinking everything. And what had James wanted to ask me? As the boys levitated the tree in through the doorway and made certain it was steady in the tree stand, I helped Mrs. Potter prepare a potion that would make the tree stay alive for longer. It was a familiar potion, one I'd learned in Professor Slughorn's class a while back for ingredient preservation. We poured it into the stand as someone tuned the wireless to Christmas music. Mrs. Potter must have gotten out the decorations earlier, for there were boxes of tinsel and candles and ornaments. James and Sirius were quick to teach me how to put on the lights.

"It's easy," James said, while Sirius started on a box full of lights. "Just tap the bottom of the candle, tap the spot on the tree where you want it, and then you wave you wand like this," he showed me with a flourish of his wand. "And then you just have to say _pegante. _It's not permanent, but it sure does the job. We'll light them all later. Try it out."

I touched my wand to the candle, and then to a lower branch on the tree.

"Pegante"

The candle zoomed out of my hand and attached itself to the exact branch I'd pointed my wand at. Soon, we were covering the branches with candles, though I had managed to stick a candle onto James without him noticing. With a flourish of a wand, the tinsel lifted to hover over the tree and gracefully floated down onto it. Soon we started on the ornaments. Some of them were different than the other ornaments, and I put those aside for later. I noticed both James and Sirius doing the same. About the time we finished the regular ornaments, Mrs. Potter came back into the room, though I hadn't noticed she'd left.

"Care for some hot chocolate?" she asked us.

"Thank you mum!" James said, as we all went forward to grab a mug.

"Thank you, Mrs. Potter," I added. The hot chocolate was delicious. But there were still a pile of colorless glass baubles left to be put on the tree.

"I would assume you've never taken part in a wizarding Christmas before, Lily," questioned Mrs. Potter, sitting next to me. She reached down to pick up one of the baubles. "Have you ever hung these before?"

I shook my head. I was assuming she didn't mean hanging clear ornaments on a Christmas tree. I certainly wasn't a rookie at that. I watched as she picked up one of the baubles and held it gently in her hand.

"Vitraile," she said, moving her wand around the ornament without touching it. I watched carefully as a spot of color formed inside the ornament and quickly spread. The ornament turned a dark shade of blue and held.

"It typically will stay coloured until after Boxing Day. After that, the charm fades and they all return to clear. The colours change based on the person; Sirius and James and I all have different coloured ornaments. It looks positively lovely, especially with the more people you have. "

I nodded, still staring at the ornament. It was actually very pretty, with the color sort of swirling about. Sirius picked up an ornament next, swirled his wand around the ornament, and said "Vitraile." The ornament filled with a scarlet hue, the same hue that was found everywhere in the Gryffindor common room. I was curious as to what color I would get. James went next. And what to my wondering eyes should appear, but a bauble, swirling with the exact colour green of my eyes.

"You know mate, sometimes I'm not sure how you aren't in Slytherin when you make things like that," Sirius said teasingly. I could see how the colour could be mistaken for Slytherin, but it wasn't. Few people knew that my eyes were actually a shade more olive than Slytherin's green. It was convincing enough unless you got close to me. Then the difference was more apparent if you were looking for it. I glanced over at James. He caught my eye and I could see him blush red. Yep. He definitely knew that his bauble wasn't Slytherin green. Feeling a bit embarrassed, I picked up a bauble to occupy myself. One incantation later and I had a gold ball in my hand. I smiled, as the ornament was the very colour of the ones I had grown up hanging on the tree. Petunia always hung the red ornaments, I hung gold, and my mother had hung silver and the sentimental ornaments. I was glad I had something left to remind me of the Christmases of the past. The four of us worked to change the rest of the baubles and hang them on the tree. With a final flourish, Mrs. Potter lit all of the candles on the tree. I'd forgotten what I'd done earlier until James gave a yell. He still had that candle on him, and it was burning bright.

"Sirius, get it off me mate," James hollered. I saw Sirius smirk before lifting his wand.

"Aguamenti!"

James stopped, dripping wet. The candle was out though, and I plucked it off furtively. My bad, I thought.

"So I take it the flames won't burn down the tree," I said, noting that James lacked any damage from the candle. Mrs. Potter nodded.

"They're meant to burn cold. That way, if your tree crashed over, your house wouldn't go down as well."

That was smart. I heard James, who was still standing there, dripping wet, start snickering.

"Uh Lily?" he started, trying to suppress his laughter.

"Yeah James?" I asked.

"Did you realize I got you with a candle too?"

I looked around in shock. Sure enough, stuck to the arm of my sweater was a candle, the flame burning perhaps a bit higher than it normally should. It is moments like these when I tend to forget that I'm a witch. I forget I have a wand, I forget there are spells, and I just react. I did exactly what I'd learned to do back in primary school. I stopped, dropped, and started to roll.

"Blimey mate, what in the world is she doing? It's not like its real flame or anything." James asked Sirius, looking troubled. To my horror, Sirius had formed a plan. As I was rolling on the floor, almost smothering the flame, Sirius came charging toward me like an overeager knight, wand brandished in front of him.

"Padfoot, no!" James yelled, but that certainly didn't stop Sirius.

"Padfoot to the rescue!" he shouted, and I swore I heard something like a cling of swords. Nope. It was the sound of a heavy stream of water epically rushing to collide with my face. It drenched anything and everything around me. The flame was out, but the floor was covered in water. I stood up slowly. I was dripping wet, with water in every conceivable place. I couldn't keep my teeth from chattering. The two of them were dead meat, and revenge would be sweet.


	4. Chapter 4

I knew they had both hoped that I'd forgotten about the incident when I came downstairs from showering and putting on dry clothes. Hardly. I was currently planning their demise. It was going to be slow… and painful. However, that could wait until tomorrow. By the time I got downstairs, James had cast a drying charm on himself and dinner was almost ready. Too bad the sweater I had worn today was the only one I owned that would shrink and wrinkle dreadfully with that charm. Outside, the snow had stopped, leaving bare spots on the ground. I was glad I was inside, safe and warm. There was a fire roaring in the grate, Sirius had gotten the puddles of water on the floor dried up, and James was hanging up stockings on the mantel. Mrs. Potter smiled fondly at the back of James' head.

"I shouldn't encourage them, but I do love their antics," Mrs. Potter said warmly as I sat down beside her. "It used to be a game in between James and his father. His father and I were both aurors, and we wanted him to be wary of traps and such. His father would plant something around the house that would, say turn his hair green and James would try to avoid triggering the trap. James would always try and get his father back, but it took him quite a while to finally be able to. It helped him to learn to keep his guard up, but he's too fond of the mischief to give up his pranking entirely. Though, he's had a lot fewer detentions since he became Head Boy."

It was true. I had a hard time remembering the last time that James had gotten a detention this year. Then again, the number of detentions had fallen toward the end of our sixth year.

"He's gotten more serious this year, but he's also gotten much better at not getting caught. Our first year, every time they would pull something, the teachers knew immediately who did it. These past few years, the teachers assumed who the culprits were but they couldn't prove anything. I had a hard enough time trying to prove it."

I remembered back when I had been intent to prove that James Potter caused every single prank that I thought he did. I had been so sick and tired of James bloody Potter asking me out every single time we ran into each other, which he seemed to go out of his way to do. I figured that the more time that he spent in detention, the less time there was in the day for him to ask me out. It hadn't worked. He was still doggedly persistent, even with a record number of detentions.

Now, it was different; it was disturbing how much could change in a year or two. James Potter wasn't the guy I had long assumed him to be, but I hadn't figured that out until this past summer. What I was still trying to figure out was who he really was. I knew James the prankster, I knew James the prat, and I knew James the head boy, but there were plenty of times I would get a taste of a side of him that I didn't know. I liked that side of him, too. I pondered this until I finally went to bed. Who was James Potter really?

I woke up suddenly and glanced at the alarm clock. It was a quarter after two. I cursed under my breath. I was wide awake after the nightmare I'd just had and there was no way I would be getting back to sleep any time soon, no matter how many times I tried to find a comfortable position. I got out of bed and put on my robe. Maybe some tea would settle me down a bit. I hoped Mrs. Potter wouldn't mind if I got some. Quietly, I snuck out of my room and crept downstairs. I didn't bother lighting my wand until I was in the kitchen. I grabbed the glass I'd used earlier for hot chocolate and moved over to the sink to give it a good rinse.

"Couldn't sleep? Or do you just like getting up in the middle of the night to wash dishes?"

I started and almost dropped the mug.

"Couldn't sleep," I confessed, looking at James who was standing behind me.

"Me neither," he admitted, running his hand through his messy black hair. "I'm guessing you were coming down for something hot?"

"Tea, actually. I was hoping no one would mind."

"Nope not at all. Are you against trying something new?"

I shook my head and watched as he headed over to the cupboard and grabbed a box out. He pulled out two tea bags and heated up some water.

"It's green tea," he explained as he handed me a mug of the finished product. "It doesn't have the caffeine that tea does, so it shouldn't keep you up. I found it in an apothecary once."

I took a sip of the tea and felt my body start to relax. It was actually really good.

"Thanks, James."

"No problem," he answered, scooting back to sit on the counter. A leg of his pajama bottoms revealed a pattern of different coloured light sabers. I smiled at that. Apparently, I wasn't the only one to see Star Wars. I pushed myself onto the counter too, holding my mug tightly. When I looked back over at James, he was studying me over his mug of tea.

"What?" I asked, perplexed by the look he was giving me.

"I heard you tossing and turning. Nightmare?"

"Yeah," I said, looking down into my tea. I'd had more nightmares this year than I knew what to do with.

"Care to talk about it?"

"It was just about my mum," I said, trying to dismiss it as being nothing. It was awkward enough that he knew.

He raised his eyebrow.

"And?" he pressed.

"I just keep having nightmares about the way she died. About what would have happened if I had been with her instead of staying at home. In my dreams, she's always yelling at me because I left her alone to die." I trailed off. I hated thinking about my mum's death. I always felt so guilty.

"You do realize that if you'd been with her, you might have died too? Or maybe whatever charm you used would have killed the other driver. Maybe you might have been able to save them both, but another driver or onlooker would have been hurt in the process. It's risky, playing the _what if_ game. You can't change anything, and you wouldn't know the consequences of changing it anyways."

"You don't understand," I muttered, turning away as I was tearing up.

"Really? My dad died too. And I'd restricted my diet to healthier foods back when I first made the quidditch team. It could have cut out half of the stuff that contributed to his heart attack. Maybe if I made sure he ate it with me, he'd still be alive. Maybe if I'd asked him to go running with me every now and then, he'd still be here, meeting you. Or maybe, if he'd just gone to the healer that blasted day for his physical instead of cancelling to come watch me play quidditch, they would have found the problem in time."

He looked like he was hurting, too. I hated to see people hurting. That was part of the reason I wanted to be a curse breaker because at least then I could change some of the negativity in the world. But right now, I had no idea what to do.

After a minute or so, I turned back toward him. I'd never been very good at apologizing, but I'd brought up the subject matter.

"I'm sorry," I said softly.

He looked at me sharply.

"You don't have anything to apologize for. You didn't cause it."

"I'm sorry for your loss, then."

I looked down, suddenly interested in my tea again. I heard James put his mug down on the counter. I figured he would still be upset with me. I wasn't expecting to feel his arm go around me and pull me the six or so inches it took to be up against his body. I was quickly and completely embraced in his hug. I didn't get too many hugs anymore, and he was warm. I pulled back after a second, and he quickly backed off.

"Sorry, Lily. I'm not quite sure what I was thinking and…"

He broke off as I leaned back into the hug after depositing my mug a safe distance away. His arms slowly slipped back around my body. It had been a while since I had been hugged like that. He'd hugged me a couple of times, but not like this. There hadn't been anyone who'd held me like that since my mum had died. My dad wasn't big on hugs. The last person who had before that, other than my mum, was probably Sev. I noticed that James had burrowed his face into my hair and my face lay against the hollow of his shoulder. He smelled amazing, and my heart speed up a bit. It was comforting with the way his hands were rubbing circles on my back. It made me forget about my nightmare and any other worries I had. It was just us. I didn't know how long we sat there like that for, but by the time we broke apart, I had to use a heating charm on my tepid tea.

After we finished our tea in silence, we both crept back up the stairs and I headed back to my room.

"Hey Lily," James said softly, pausing outside the door to his room. "Goodnight. And Happy Christmas Eve."

I stopped at the door. He was right. It was well after midnight, making it Christmas Eve. I smiled.

"You too James," I said before pushing open my door. "And goodnight."


	5. Chapter 5

The next morning, I was woken up fairly early by the sound of Sirius thundering down the stairs.

"It's Christmas Eve," he yelled, for all of us and possibly even the neighbors to hear. I sighed at his enthusiasm. It was just after seven. Too early for ruckus. It didn't help that I'd stayed up for another thirty minutes preparing my prank for today. If it worked, the "pay off" would be great. I got out of bed and quickly searched for clean clothes. By the time I dressed and came out into the hall, James was coming out of his room as well. I smiled at him as we headed downstairs for breakfast together.

"I'm going to be baking cookies today," Mrs. Potter mentioned as we all sat down to breakfast. "Would you be interested in helping me bake, Lily?"

I nodded. I loved cooking and baking. Perhaps that had helped my love for potion-making to grow

"Well, we can start after breakfast, and the boys can run up to Diagon Alley to pick up some groceries."

After breakfast was finished and the dishes were washed, the boys left and I snuck upstairs to grab the vial of potion that I had made last night. It was just a multi-purpose enchantment enhancement made out of ordinary ingredients, but if I laced it with a charm and added it to the icing, it would work perfectly.

I washed my hands as Mrs. Potter detailed the types of cookies that we would be making. I enjoyed the peace and quiet of just the two of us making the cookies from scratch.

"What's your favorite cookie to make?" I asked as we rolled several types of dough flat.

"The lemon cookies, hands down. I'd only make those if I could. However, both James and Sirius love the sugar cookies," she commented as we worked. "I can't seem to keep the boys away from them."

The lemon cookies were fun to make. They had a soft cookie base and were topped with lemon curd and powder sugar icing that was drizzled all over the tops. The sugar cookies took the longest to make. I whipped up the fluffy icing for the tops and dyed half red and half green. Together, we frosted the cookies carefully. While Mrs. Potter was distracted with setting the oven timer for another batch of cookies, I quickly pulled the potion out of my pocket. There was only a bit of red frosting left in the bowl. I dumped the potion in and quietly muttered the charm I had wanted to lace it with before mixing it all together. I topped two of the sugar cookies with the "special" frosting, careful not to get the frosting anywhere else. My sneakiness paid off. The cookies were at the top of the plate, in the prime position to be eaten. Just as we were finishing up with the last of the baking, the boy flooed back to the house. James rushed upstairs to put his coat away before the two of them brought the groceries into the kitchen.

"Mum, you spoil me," Sirius said as he grabbed a cookie from off the plate, giving Mrs. Potter a cheeky smile. Sure enough, it was one of my cookies. James grabbed the other one and took a small bite as Sirius shoved the whole thing into his mouth at once.

"Mum these are delicious!"

Suddenly, Sirius froze, a strange expression on his face. James eyed him warily. Before either of them could counter it in any way, smoke whirled around them. As it cleared, I knew my prank had been successful.

There in front of me, complete with pointy ears, stood Sirius dressed in the muggle version of an elf outfit. Furry hat, check. Pointy black shoes, check. Red and white striped tights, check. Look of horror on Sirius' face at the sight of the green velvety shirt he was now wearing, check and check. I guessed James hadn't eaten enough of the cookie; he only had the pointy ears and the green shirt over his clothes. He smirked at Sirius.

"Nice outfit, Sirius. Bet that will really make the ladies swoon."

Sirius scowled at him. I was trying so hard not to laugh as I counted down seconds. Just as Sirius opened up his mouth to retort, I reached zero and there was an explosion of glitter. In unison, both guys opened their mouths and began singing _Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer _in perfect harmony.

I was laughing so hard at this point that I could barely stand. Mrs. Potter moved beside me for a better view and reached over to pat me on the back.

"Nice work," she said, smiling at me as James and Sirius launched into a duet of _Baby It's Cold Outside_.

Halfway through their duet, however, James' pointy ears disappeared, though he was still belting out the lyrics for the whole world to hear. By the time Sirius had launched into All I Want for Christmas Is You, it was obvious that James was singing good naturedly from his own accord.

"Tell him my poor heart would sing, if one gift he'll only bring, for all I want for Christmas is you," they bellowed together, finishing up. At that moment, Sirius' elf costume disappeared, returning him to normal.

"Gods," Sirius said, looking down at himself.

James mocked bowed before us while Sirius launched himself at me. I tensed, but he only wrapped me up in a hug.

"That was brilliant! I knew we would make a prankster out of you. You have to show me how you linked up the outfit transfiguration with the forced singing and the glamour," Sirius said, wiggling a bit in excitement. "Are the rest of the cookies safe to eat?"

"Yes," I said, reassuring him that none of the others would enchant him in any form, though he seemed rather dubious.

However, it was only later as I was putting up my vial that I realized and wondered several things: why James would keep singing even after the charm wore off, how did he even know all of those muggle songs, and how come I had never noticed how good of a singing voice he had?


	6. Chapter 6

I didn't get a chance to talk to James alone over dinner. As soon as we were all washed up, the food was ready, and the table was set, the four of us sat down for dinner. The food was delicious. There was everything that I was used to for Christmas Eve dinner, plus some dishes that were unfamiliar. If I had to guess, I would expect them to be dishes that the Potters had tried and liked during their auror duties.

This year's dinner was certainly more peaceful than my family's dinner last year. Petunia had shown up with Vernon Dursley in tow, and he had found ways to make the dinner unpleasant. He was certainly a disagreeable sort. I wished that I could have my big sister back, but she was likely chatting with some executive from the company Vernon worked at right now, in hopes of helping him get a step up in the company. I had responded no to the RSVP for the dinner party before I'd left Hogwarts and I doubted that they were missing me in the slightest.

Their dinner would likely have been noisy and crowded, and I had never been fond of events like that. The dinner I was having right now felt much more like what I'd grown used to over the years with my family. There was good conversation, plenty of food, and cozy. Sometime during the day, I had finally lost my nervousness over meeting James' mom and being a guest in her home, whichmade things easier.

I reached for the plate of ham as it was passed to me. Soon my plate was full with everything I liked and some things I wanted to try.

"You should try the chicken curry," James suggested as I was about to pass the dish on. It smelled spicy and I hadn't been quite comfortable trying it, knowing the type of things that they both could eat. However, at James' suggestion, I scooped some onto my plate.

It was much better than I had imagined it would be. Dinner passed rather quickly with the Wizarding Wireless Network belting various Christmas carols and with all of us crowded around the table talking. We had gone through many of the typical questions about school and subjects before the subject of careers popped up.

"James, do you still want to be an auror like your father?" Mrs. Potter asked softly, light wrinkles lining her forehead as she looked at him seriously. No doubt this was a source of worry for her.

"Of course I do, mum. I have the grades for it too."

"I'm applying to be one as well," Sirius added. I had no doubt about that. The two stuck together. They would make excellent partners.

"What about you, Lily?"

Three sets of eyes were on me, likely because I had been rather secretive with my choice after career counseling our fifth year. I certainly did not want to be an auror. I didn't think I could handle hexing people all day and getting hexed back just as often. It wasn't particularly my style and I would get worn down before long.

"I'm actually planning on becoming a curse breaker," I said, startling the table.

"A curse breaker?" Sirius asked inquisitively. I knew exactly what he was thinking of. "So that's how you managed to mffhh…"

James quickly had clapped a hand over Sirius' mouth, likely to keep Sirius from revealing a botched prank that Mrs. Potter hadn't learned about yet. A small struggle ensued until Sirius finally managed to get free.

"A curse breaker, like those guys who break into the tombs of old wizards?" Sirius asked curiously, rephrasing his question.

"Actually, I was thinking more along the lines of breaking actual dark curses, and potentially designing counters to them," I answered. " Surely there has to be a way to block some of the darker curses, even though typical shielding charms fail. I want to research how to effectively block those darker curses, and eventually figure out a way to block unforgivable curses."

"That sounds like an interesting career choice, Lily," Mrs. Potter said softly. "We need more people with ambitions like that to actually fix the problems of the wizarding world. We need people who will attempt to solve the problems that others think are impossible. "

"Thanks, Mrs. Potter," I said, blushing quietly under her praise as I turned back to my food.

I wasn't particularly excited to broadcast my career decisions to everyone, but it was nice telling people who could understand. My family had no idea what any of the wizarding careers did, so they didn't even comprehend why I would choose one career over another. Then again, I think my family had resigned themselves to not understanding my world and didn't even attempt to anymore. My world was one they never could be a part of, and I wouldn't fit into theirs anymore.

After dinner, we sat around for a few hours around the fire eating cookies and talking about wizarding Christmas traditions and legends. Some of them I had heard of or tried before, such as the hopping pot, which started off the giving tradition around Christmas, and wizard crackers, which were quite popular with the younger kids at Hogwarts. One could never be certain what would or wouldn't come out of those. Others I had never heard of, such as caroling elves and the legend of a witch who would steal the shoes of all the bad children while giving candy to the good ones. I was particularly glad none of my shoes had gone missing over the years. It wasn't long before all of us were dozing off in our chairs in front of the fire. When the clock finally struck eleven, we all headed upstairs for bed. As I climbed up the stairs, I smiled. Though it wasn't the same as my Christmas Eves of the past, this one certainly held a charm of its own, one that I would remember for years to come.


	7. Chapter 7

(A/N: All of the previous chapters have had major edits and have been reposted. The plot has remained the same. This chapter will be short. I'm stopping it at the point I intended to originally.)

To be honest, I was surprised to wake up at half past seven on my own. I thought Sirius would have been up by now, considering his stunt on Christmas Eve, but I knew he would have woken us all up if he were awake. No doubt he would assume that everyone else would share his childlike excitement. On second thought, I suppose that this shouldn't have surprised me, figuring how late the boys tended to have a lie in at Hogwarts. Rolling my eyes at the thought of Sirius half buried under covers with his bum in the air, snoring without a care, I got dressed quickly and headed down to the kitchen.

"My mum won't be up for another hour."

I jumped, startled by the voice behind me. I spun around to see James lounging in a chair by the fire; I had walked right past him. I cursed under my breath as I headed toward him and pulled up a chair.

"She made it a rule that we couldn't start Christmas stuff until nine after we woke her up at four o-clock during our second year. She really wasn't pleased that year," he smirked. "Sirius won't be up until the latest possible time he can get away with and still get presents."

I couldn't help it, I started laughing. The thought of Sirius sleeping always brought back the memory of the bum in the air moment. I had caught him sleeping like that several years before, after they "borrowed" my arithmancy notes. I had undertaken a clandestine mission to rescue them, only to catch Sirius in his awkward position, with James still awake.

"I can't believe he's comfortable sleeping like that," I choked out between giggles.

"It's actually a good thing," James added, sniggering. "Do you remember our first year, when we all overslept? McGonagall sent up a prefect to check on us. Most of us woke up and got ready fairly easily, but Sirius was out for the count. It took the liberal use of a bucket of water to get him up. In fact, Sirius sleeps so hard that if he had been lying flat, the prefect would have thought him to be dead,. We still had a hard time convincing that prefect that we hadn't stunned him the night before."

"It doesn't surprise me. Didn't he sleep through that time all the fireworks in his trunk exploded?"

"Yep. Pretty sure he slept through the subsequent detention too."

I snorted. That didn't surprise me one bit.

"Want some cocoa?" he asked, gesturing toward the mug on the table. "I made some when I got up, but I'm almost out."

I quickly assented. Chocolate was one of my favorite treats, especially in liberal doses. I hadn't been surprised to learn about its magical properties upon coming to Hogwarts.

James headed into the kitchen, grabbing the various ingredients. I leaned up against the counter, watching him at work. For some reason, he kept fidgeting and glancing up at me. That made me suspicious. Was he trying to prank me back? It wasn't until the sweetened milk was heating on the stove and the chocolate had been stirred in that he finally spoke.

"So… Lily…" he trailed off nervously. I merely raised an eyebrow, waiting for him to continue.

"Spit it out, Potter," I added playfully.

"Well, I wasn't planning on doing this; I planned on giving you a break but… I don't know… would you be willing to try and make this work?" he said in a rush, looking at me with eyes already preparing for a negative answer.

I opened my mouth, maybe to answer, maybe to ask a question. More than likely, I would have simply gaped at him, since my brain hadn't quite gotten that far yet. And then I froze.


	8. Chapter 8

(A/N: This is the second to the last chapter. The last chapter is about halfway done now and will be posted tomorrow.) 

And then I froze. Quite literally in fact. I couldn't move a muscle with all the ice covering my body. Honestly, even if I could move, I wasn't sure whether to laugh or yell. I was fairly certain my hair was frozen in spikes and my arms were frozen to the counter. James had an expression of horror plastered on his face. 

"Lily, what…" he trailed off as I rocked against the ice that bound me. It isn't terribly comfortable being frozen. 

"James Potter what on earth did you do to your guest?" 

Mrs. Potter stood at the bottom of the stairs, arms crossed. The look on her face should have melted the ice that I was encased in. She moved into the kitchen with her wand ready in her hand. 

"I thought I told you to keep your wand secure, not in the back pocket ready to blast off any moment." 

"Mum, I didn't do anything. The blasted freezer is malfunctioning again," James explained readily. "I think the charm is leaking." 

Sure enough, I was leaning right against the metal box on the counter that served as the freezer. I could feel it pressing into my back.

"How about you pour us some of the hot cocoa and I'll fix this," Mrs. Potter remedied. She muttered a quick _finite incantatem_.

It only took a moment or so for the freeze charm to melt off. I quickly took a step away and rolled my arms in circles to rid myself of the stiffness I'd gained from that position.

Mrs. Potter handed me the cup of hot cocoa that James had made.

"Drink up, dear, it will warm you up," she said, in a motherly way.

I sighed at the feeling of warmth that coursed through my body with the first mouthful. It felt wonderful. It only took a few more sips to drain the last few drops out of the mug. As I put down the empty mug, Mrs. Potter started on breakfast, and I headed over to James, who was frowning over the freezer and taping it with his wand.

"Here, let me help," I said. With both of us working on fixing the gradual erosion of the permanent freezing charm, the freezer was as good as new in minutes. However, James was a mere few inches away the entire time. Just as I straightened up, he put a hand on my shoulder.

"Lily," he breathed softly. "Look, I'm sorry…"

James was forced to trail off as he was tackled from behind by an over-exuberant Sirius. I couldn't help but to sigh at the way this was playing out. I wasn't going to be able to get a private word in with James for as long as Sirius was there. Considering that it was Christmas, it wasn't likely that I would be able to have a moment without Sirius.

"It's Christmas," Sirius whooped, unknowing of what he had interrupted. "Happy Christmas!"

He proceeded to engage in some sort of happy dance that led around the kitchen before he collapsed in a heap at the table, nearly missing the chair entirely. Even so, it teetered precariously. James burst into laughter and picked himself off of the kitchen floor. With a meaningful look back at me, he went over to sit with Sirius.

"Oh Lily-flower!" Sirius yelled, apparently not quite finished with his rambunctiousness. He looked at me expectantly and patted the seat in between James and him. "Come join us!"

I walked over to the table warily, taking a seat only after sweeping my wand over the chair to check for enchantments. I removed the one I found before sitting, and promptly watched Sirius look crestfallen.

"Spoiling all our Christmas fun? Tsk tsk, not a proper way for a head girl to act," Sirius remarked, looking at me sternly. I glanced over at James, who was smiling at me encouragingly. What was this, a one man circus of crazy?

"Oh sod off Padfoot," James said. "Don't go all crazy and get your knickers in a twist just because Lily foiled you again."

"Hey! I resent that! You've never seen my knickers…"

"More like resemble it," I muttered under my breath just as James muttered, "Not like I haven't lived with you for seven years."

Sirius, however, was saved from a rebuttal as a loud thunk came from the chimney.

"Santa!" James yelled, just as an owl emerged from the soot and barely managed to squeeze through the grate. It was carrying a very sooty letter, which it deposited directly on James' head. James ripped open the envelope and soot sprinkled everywhere.

"Mum, may Remus come over at noon?" James asked, turning his attention toward his mother.

"Of course, dear," Mrs. Potter answered as she minded the rashers. "But go wash that soot off before breakfast."

James quickly scrawled a response across the back of the parchment and attached it to the owl's leg. The owl hooted energetically before disappearing back up the chimney As James stood up, I turned to him with a question. He looked rather endearing coveredin the soot that framed his face and blanketed his already dark hair.

"Wouldn't a scourgify work?" I asked.

"Nope. Have you ever heard the story of Cinderella?" he asked.

"Of course," I scoffed. "She slaved away for her step sisters and was rescued by her fairy godmother and Prince Charming."

"Not exactly," he explained. "She was actually a muggleborn witch left in the care of the worst sort of muggles. She desired to be pure and away from the evil, yet her magic wouldn't allow her to clean herself of the soot due to a curse that also prevented her from escaping. The night of the ball, she was able to draw a bath to rid herself of the soot and attended the ball. She was rescued by Prince Charming the next morning." He paused, eyeing me with a smile. "That's rumored to be the reason why soot cannot be removed by magic."

I'd never heard that story before. The story of Cinderella had always been one associated with my muggle childhood. However, I supposed that it made sense. There were some substances that were particularly difficult to remove. Ink and soot were particularly difficult to remove with most muggle methods, but were practically impossible to remove with common wizarding charms. Also, some of the magic from the story was remarkably familiar, such as the aspects of transfiguring a pumpkin to a coach and the timed aspect of the transfiguration.

Still thinking of the childhood fairytale, I got up to help Mrs. Potter finish cooking breakfast. By the time we finished, James was back downstairs, albeit with dripping wet hair. Breakfast passed quickly with light conversation. James and Sirius seemed more interested in swallowing their food whole so that they could head to the Christmas tree, than in making conversation.

At a quarter past nine, we were all gathered in front of the mantel and tree. I was on the floor, leaning up against the front of the couch while both guys were sprawled out all over the rug, stockings in hand. The Christmas tree was brightly lit and sparkling enticingly.

"Mum?" James raised his eyebrows questioningly and flashed his mother a smile as she entered the room with a cup of tea.

"Go ahead, dear" she answered, sitting down on the sofa.

James and Sirius were quick to dig in to their stockings, while I held back. I had always enjoyed savoring the tiny trinkets that Saint Nick left, which tended to be magical in nature. Even when I was younger, I had always received a small magical gift or two from Saint Nick. I remembered one year, when I had received magical finger paints that disappeared from the walls. I reached my hand into my stocking, fingers brushing against something smooth. James whooped at the snitch he pulled out, enchanted to leave a trail of different coloured sparks floating in the air behind it. Sirius had a bag of hand crafted muggle tricks that he was delighted over. I still had my hand in my stocking, running my fingers over the smooth glass. Out came a small snow globe with Hogwarts castle inside. Every detail was crafted carefully, the glitter more like snow than any muggle attempt would ever be. The snow globe had a thin layer of frost that melted away when the globe was shaken. I knew I would treasure this gift forever. I had barely dipped my hand back into my stocking when the boys tore into their presents, setting mine carefully to the side. I pulled out the ice mice and peppermint toads characteristic to Christmas, along with a few rare potions ingredients. I tucked these carefully to the side. In the midst of flying paper, I reached for my first wrapped present. James and Sirius both had books lying to the side, and James was trying on a scarf. As the paper fell off my package too, I found myself holding a thin delicate scarf that instantly warmed my hands.

"They're charmed for warmth and waterproof as well," James leaned over to tell me, wrapping his own scarf around himself. With a muffled cry, Sirius was suddenly holding not two but four socks in his hands. He shot a furtive look at Mrs. Potter, who laughed and explained the purpose.

"Sirius, they're charmed for warmth, grip, and to shrink to any size foot or paw."

She laughed at the miffed look on his face. His thoughts were evident, even to those not trained in Legilimency, something along the lines of "Does she know I'm an animagus? Blast, how did she figure that out? What am I going to do?" Then Sirius lightened up and grinned cheekily at her. I hated to think what Sirius would say if he knew that I'd been spying on them morphing since the end of my fifth year. It was difficult not to see the signs, but the name "Padfoot" gave it away anyways.

By midmorning, we were all surrounded by buried in piles of wrapping paper. Sirius was busy strapping on his new wand holster, James had his new chaser's gloves on and was skimming though his copy of _Transfiguration Today_, and I had a new Advanced Runes book as well as a book on spell crafting that was currently open in my lap. There was little better than reading on Christmas morning. However, I only managed to get through the first chapter before Remus flooed over. He was far too pale, yet he seemed excited. I had known about his monthly issue for quite some time, and the full moon was tonight, after all. I wondered how he handled the full moon on Christmas. It had to be bitingly cold outside at night as well. My pondering was interrupted when something oft but slightly heavy landed over me, enveloping me in darkness. James and Sirius must have run to the cupboard to grab our coats and mittens, as mine was currently engulfing me. I hurried to put my coat on and wrapped my scarf around me before rushing outside after the boys.

The air was icy and my breath hung in crystals in the air. I hurried forward to where the boys were huddled up.

"Padfoot, you're with Mooney. I'll take Lily," James said, taking a step back to start establishing his territory.

"Of course you would, Jamsie," Sirius smarted off. He wouldn't get away with that comment for long.

James and I headed over to our side, and I pulled out my wand. I'd been a part of quite a few snowball fights at Hogwarts, and forts were the first step of defense. Quickly, James and I levitated up enough snow to pack and make a study wall in front of us. Sirius and Remus weren't wasting any time in doing the same. As I packed a handful of snowballs, James turned to me, a maniacal smile on his face.

"And now, the revenge begins."

And revenge it was. Sweet, sweet revenge. James managed a spell that made every snow ball he threw hone in on its target (usually Sirius of course) and got in his share of throws. I was hardly too shabby either. I could avoid getting blasted by snow well enough and quite a few of my throws hit the intended square on. The match only came to an end when both of the forts collapsed. I thought that the demolition managed to take out Sirius on the way down, though knowing Sirius, he more likely planned that one himself. By the time the fort was demolished, I was thoroughly chilled. We headed back inside to warm up and for lunch, laughing as we shook the snow off of ourselves. Remus left just after lunch. With every minute that passed after noon, Remus grew noticeably paler and the shadows darkened under his eyes. He looked bruised and beat up. As he grabbed a pinch of floo powder, James put a hand on his shoulder to stop him.

"Be careful tonight Moony," he said meaningfully.

Remus nodded stoically. And with that, he stepped into the floo.


	9. Chapter 9

Inside was cheerful and cozy, with the scent of pine radiating around the room. The day flew by, playing wizard's chess and reading my new books. It was late in the afternoon when I questioned whether I would have the opportunity to meet my dad or not.

"What's on your mind," James asked, sitting next to me on the arm of the sofa. I looked up, glancing around the room in the process. Although Sirius was far too busy entertaining himself with the bag of muggle tricks, Mrs. Potter was looking over her book at us. I didn't realize that it had been so obvious I was lost in thought.

"I had planned to see my dad over the hols," I told them. "He had mentioned it before break. I imagine I could send him a letter, but it might be difficult to find a location for meeting. After all, the Knight bus isn't terribly discrete and my dad doesn't travel much anymore."

"Have you thought about taking the wizarding floo?" Mrs. Potter interjected. "There are quite a few shopkeepers that are connected to the floo network in muggle London and the surrounding areas. They're used to people popping in and out. As long as you keep a pinch of floo power with you, you wouldn't have a problem."

"That sounds like it might work," I mused. I was glad that there was an alternative to the Knight bus. Over the next half hour, Mrs. Potter and I combed the public floo map for locations near Surrey that would be reliable for me, and easy to reach for my dad. We settled on two locations that were close by Little Whinging, though I wouldn't dare mention how I would be travelling in my letter. Although my dad knew I hated travelling by way of the Knight bus, I'd let him assume I would be travelling that way for now. If Petunia found out there were floo connections in her area, she'd likely start a modern day witch hunt. Grabbing a sheet of parchment, I penned a quick message to my dad, asking him if he would be able to meet over the break, suggesting meeting at one of the two areas with floo locations close by, at his earliest convenience. I dearly hoped that he would be able to meet with me. Although I had truly enjoyed spending the Christmas holiday with James and his family, I missed mine. I sent Hecate out the window with my letter and instructions to wait for a reply. As she flew gracefully away, I decided that this Christmas had turned out much better than I had originally expected, family or not.

Later that night, I woke to the stairs creaking and two hushed voices sneaking back into their rooms. As I rolled over to go back to sleep, I smiled. It was cold and the full moon had come at Christmas, yet James and Sirius had snuck out to help Remus. I doubted that anyone could find any fault with James Potter when it came to loyalty to his friends.

Boxing Day passed quickly and without excitement, though it snowed heavily all day. I didn't have an opportunity to catch James alone, much to my disappointment. I did receive a message from my dad suggesting that unless he heard differently from me, we meet the next day for brunch at the restaurant at the closer of the two locations.

I woke up early the next morning, so as to make it to the restaurant on time. Neither James nor Sirius was up when I left, though Mrs. Potter was. As she explained exactly how to get to the shop, she kindly reminded me to take an extra bit of floo powder with me as I traveled, for the return trip. The trip was much better than one by Knight bus. I waved at the shopkeeper as I left her shop and traveled to the restaurant. The restaurant itself was empty, with only a smattering of customers. I chose a table and waited for my dad to arrive. A half hour later, he finally arrived.

"Lily!" He swept me into a hug. "You've grown so much."

"Not _too_ much," I smiled up at him.

A waiter came over as soon as my dad was settled in and we ordered our food.

"Did you apparate?" he asked.

I frowned.

"No, I've never visited this area before, so I wouldn't have a mental image to get me here."

"Well that's a shame. It seems like a much easier method of travel. How has school been?" my dad asked.

"It's gone well this term. I still have top ranking in almost every class and patrols for the Head position don't take up too much of my time." I brushed my hair out of my face. "Revising for NEWTs isn't terribly difficult. In fact, I have a job offer pending successful NEWT results"

"That's wonderful! Where will you be working?"

"In research and design," I answered noncommittally. I reality, I had secured a position with the Unspeakables through some of my charm and potion concepts. The Unspeakables would have the best resources and minds to help me accomplish my goals, through research, curse-breaking experience, and practical applications.

It looked like Dad would have questioned me further, but just then, our food arrived.

"Did the party go well?" I asked.

"Not quite," Dad smiled sadly. "I'm afraid Petunia wasn't quite so happy."

"Why is that," I wondered aloud.

"She planned the perfect party, only to have her husband and his sister get pissed. I don't think Marge was uttering anything comprehensible by the end of the evening, and Vernon could barely stand. I don't think Petunia had seen that sign of Vernon before. He didn't lose his job since his drilling company is family owned, but he certainly didn't impress anyone. Personally, I think she could have made a better choice if she had waited a bit longer, but Vernon will be eager to please after that ordeal. I think Petunia is just glad that you weren't there to witness it."

He paused, considering his words.

"She'd wanted you to think that she was content, that she didn't need you at all. The worst thing you could do would be to let on that you know, before she realizes it herself."

We paid and left the restaurant, walking back toward Petunia's house. Although out of my way, I wanted to spend as much time as possible with my dad. We talked lightly for a while

"I feel old," he chuckled. "Both my daughters have gone and grown up on me. Petunia has gone and gotten married, and my little Lily-flower is about to finish school," he said, looking at me softly.

It struck me that when I saw him next, I would have most likely have completed my education. I had known for a while that I would likely never see Petunia again. But I could still remember my dad walking me through the platform at the beginning of my first year. It was strange to think how quickly time had flown by.

We rounded the corner and I caught a glimpse of what had to be Petunia's house. It was prim and uniform. My dad hugged me once more.

"Be good, Lily-flower," he whispered, before turning and walking into the house, slightly stooped. The door closed behind him, and I started walking back.

My father had looked older than I'd ever seen him before. His hair, sandy the last time I saw him, was quickly approaching white, and his face was lined with wrinkles, almost as if a certain hardness had been etched into his face. More than that, he had developed a slight hunch when he sat. It might not have seemed out of place, but he had always prided himself on sitting straight and tall. The man I knew as my father had gone, disappeared, leaving behind the shell of the past. His age had never been important growing up. Though he and my mom weren't exactly old when they had us, they certainly had not young been young when they married. My father had been ten years older than my mum, and it showed. I had believed him invincible, yet the frailty I'd witnessed betrayed otherwise.

Even the floo trip back couldn't ease my troubled mind. In a society where not only are grandparents commonly present, but it isn't uncommon for great-grandparents to be present either, I could only wonder what they thought of the muggleborn. Our families are so very vulnerable to illness and age, often leaving muggleborn alone with children, without grandparents. What kills our parents and grandparents is often treatable in the wizarding world. What must they think of us? Do the wizards pity us, think us utterly inferior due to the genetics of our ancestors? Do they even notice? I can only hope that someday, my children will live to see their grandchildren, that they need not worry about falling to car crashes or heart attacks.

I stumbled out of the fireplace and threw my purse aside. Only later would I realize how empty the house had been. Mrs. Potter and Sirius must have left for the day, for only James was lounging on the couch, staring at me.

"Lily, we need to talk," he said steadily.

"Where's your mum and Sirius?" I asked.

"Out," he replied, standing up from the couch and moving toward me.

"Look Lily, I've been trying to get a chance to talk with you,"

"Yeah?" I questioned, perching on the arm of the sofa.

"Just hear me out," James said, pacing. "I've been trying for so long to persuade you to be my girlfriend, and you always declined. I wondered whether I was going about it all wrong, but I had no idea what to change. I tried, and I assume that's why I got the head position. It was only when my father passed away that I saw what had been missing, and I worked hard to find what I needed to change, to become the man that would have made my father proud. Strange thing was, you seemed like you actually liked who I was becoming. We got to the point where I was proud to call you my friend, and I didn't want to risk losing that. I actively refrained from asking you out all year, even though there were plenty of times I wanted to. I've tried to be there for you when you've been hurting, and I've done everything I can to make you smile. I've enjoyed being your shoulder, your partner for patrols, and your friend. But we're nearing the end of our time at Hogwarts." He cleared his throat and turned to face me. "I'm terrified that we'll say that we'll stay friends, only to drift apart and go down different paths or to only see each other at gatherings once a year. I can't risk that, because I don't want to risk losing you. Every attempt before now has been child's play in comparison to this, but I couldn't face myself ten years from now if I didn't do this. Lily, you're the only one I've found that I could imagine being completely happy beside in the future. Problem is, since I met you, I didn't want to imagine anyone else." He smiled. "I still remember meeting you on the train and thinking how much of a spitfire you were, and that you were special –even then. Back then, I loved to see you all riled up, with your eyes burning and your hair flying. But lately all I've wanted is to see you whole and happy again. That's why I invited you home. You love Christmas and I couldn't bear the thought of it being ruined for you, of you being miserable at Hogwarts all break. With most everything else, I think I can help too. So please Lily, give me a chance. I don't want to chance it with anyone else."

He stood there looking at me, his nervousness not masked. It couldn't have been easy for him to tell me everything. I smiled, and said the only coherent thing I could have managed.

"I will."

With that, he wrapped his arms around me and softly kissed me.

As we rode the Hogwarts Express back later that week, I sat with James, Sirius, Remus, and Peter once again, which was becoming commonplace, though I wouldn't have it any other way. Although I couldn't imagine how my research would go, what type of life I would have, or where I would be ten years from now, at this moment, I was happy. I knew that there was a little bit of my future here right now. And I was waiting to embrace it.

(A/N: It has been two years since I first started writing this fic, and I'm glad to have finally finished it. It's my first multi-chapter completed story, though I hope to someday write more (I think I'll avoid the romance genre, along with first person stories). Although I edited this fic in its entirety, I set a deadline of Christmas for completion (which almost failed due to my computer crashing). Due to that, there may still be errors in this story. If you note any, let me know via PM and I'll be happy to go back and revise. Last of all, thank you to everyone who read this story, and especially to those who reviewed. Merry Christmas!)


End file.
